Definitions for tough
tʌftough

Princeton's WordNet(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. street fighter, toughnoun

   someone who learned to fight in the streets rather than being formally trained in the sport of boxing

2. hood, hoodlum, goon, punk, thug, tough, toughie, strong-armernoun

   an aggressive and violent young criminal

3. bully, tough, hooligan, ruffian, roughneck, rowdy, yob, yobo, yobboadjective

   a cruel and brutal fellow

4. toughadjective

   not given to gentleness or sentimentality

   "a tough character"

5. rugged, toughadjective

   very difficult; severely testing stamina or resolution

   "a rugged competitive examination"; "the rugged conditions of frontier life"; "the competition was tough"; "it's a tough life"; "it was a tough job"

6. tough, toughenedadjective

   physically toughened

   "the tough bottoms of his feet"

7. sturdy, toughadjective

   substantially made or constructed

   "sturdy steel shelves"; "sturdy canvas"; "a tough all-weather fabric"; "some plastics are as tough as metal"

8. ruffianly, toughadjective

   violent and lawless

   "the more ruffianly element"; "tough street gangs"

9. bad, toughadjective

   feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad')

   "my throat feels bad"; "she felt bad all over"; "he was feeling tough after a restless night"

10. toughadjective

    resistant to cutting or chewing

11. hard, toughadjective

    unfortunate or hard to bear

    "had hard luck"; "a tough break"

12. baffling, elusive, knotty, problematic, problematical, toughadjective

    making great mental demands; hard to comprehend or solve or believe

    "a baffling problem"; "I faced the knotty problem of what to have for breakfast"; "a problematic situation at home"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. toughnoun

   A person who obtains things by force; a thug or bully.

   They were doing fine until they encountered a bunch of toughs from the opposition.

2. toughverb

   To endure.

3. toughverb

   To toughen.

4. toughadjective

   strong and resilient; sturdy

   The tent, made of tough canvas, held up to many abuses.

5. toughadjective

   difficult to cut or chew

   To soften a tough cut of meat, the recipe suggested simmering it for hours.

6. toughadjective

   rugged or physically hardy

   Only a tough species will survive in the desert.

7. toughadjective

   Stubborn.

   He had a reputation as a tough negotiator.

8. toughadjective

   harsh or severe

9. toughadjective

   rowdy or rough.

   A bunch of the tough boys from the wrong side of the tracks threatened him.

10. toughadjective

    difficult or demanding

    This is a tough crowd.

11. toughadjective

    Undergoing plastic deformation before breaking.

12. Etymology: From toh, from tanhuz.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Tough

   having the quality of flexibility without brittleness; yielding to force without breaking; capable of resisting great strain; as, the ligaments of animals are remarkably tough

2. Tough

   not easily broken; able to endure hardship; firm; strong; as, tough sinews

3. Tough

   not easily separated; viscous; clammy; tenacious; as, tough phlegm

4. Tough

   stiff; rigid; not flexible; stubborn; as, a tough bow

5. Tough

   severe; violent; as, a tough storm

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Tough

   tuf, adj. not easily broken: firm: stiff, viscous, sticky: stubborn, hard to manage, trying: violent: tenacious: able to endure hardship.—n. a rough, a bully.—v.t. or v.i. Tough′en, to make or become tough.—adj. Tough′ish, rather tough.—adv. Tough′ly.—n. Tough′ness. [A.S. tóh; cog. with Ger. zähe.]

Matched Categories

1. • Combatant
   • Criminal

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'tough' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3162

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'tough' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2971

3. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'tough' in Adjectives Frequency: #328

Anagrams for tough »

1. ought

How to pronounce tough?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say tough in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of tough in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of tough in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of tough in a Sentence

1. State John Kerry:

   So we made progress but we have some tough issues to get over.

2. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble:

   Without a program, things will be tough for Greece. I wouldn't know how financial markets will handle it without a program -- but maybe he knows better.

3. Robert Menendez:

   However, we will continue to carry out our duties as laid out in the Constitution, including providing advice and consent on nominees, asking tough questions on policy decisions, as well as actions taken at State Department, high level temper tantrums will not stop House Oversight Committee from conducting our oversight responsibilities.

4. Mom Amy:

   My favorite state has to be Oregon. Its so beautiful, the coast is amazing. We just spent Christmas in Joshua Tree and luckily Santa Claus found Payson there. at first it was hard, Im a clean person and was used to showering at least once a day. It used to stress me out when Payson got dirty but she doesnt need to have a bath every single day, Amy revealed. Shes perfectly healthy and if she is dirty I just wash her down with a warm soapy cloth at night if we arent hooked up to water. Its hard sometimes not to have service everywhere we go. I need to be connected to WIFI for the part time work I do, and if theres no service it can be really tough, she continued. Derek added :.

5. Benjamin Pavard:

   We are ready for Peru, even if we know that it's going to be a tough game. They are fast and lively, they will have a huge desire to win after losing their first game so it won't be easy.

Popularity rank by frequency of use